Mental Attitude: Less Distress If Active! Researchers found that older adults who experienced any level of psychological distress were more likely to experience physical functional limitations than those who did not. Psychological distress scores indicated that 8.4% of all older adult participants experienced some level of psychological distress and older adults who experienced even a moderate level of psychological distress were the most likely group to experience a functional limitation — almost seven times more likely than those who did not report any psychological distress! Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, April 2012

Health Alert: Super Markets and Waist Size. People who shop at discount supermarkets or in supermarkets in areas with poorly educated consumers have higher than normal body mass indices (BMI) and waist circumferences. According to the study’s author, Basile Chaix, “A public health strategy to reduce excess weight may be to intervene on specific supermarkets to change food purchasing behavior, as supermarkets are where dietary preferences are materialized into definite purchased foods.” PLoS One, April 2012 

Diet: Red Wine & Fruit For Fat. Piceatannol is a compound found in red wine, grapes, blueberries and passion fruit. It’s able to block cellular processes that allow fat cells to develop, opening a door to a potential method to control obesity. Journal of Biological Chemistry, April 2012 

Exercise: Regular Walking Regimen. Cancer patients can literally take a step-by-step approach to combat fatigue following surgical treatment. This fatigue doesn’t go away with sleep, affects daily activities (doing your personal hygiene in the morning, getting up and getting dressed, going from the bedroom to breakfast, etc.) and can also lead to anxiety and depression. Patients who underwent an operation as part of their cancer treatment and then started a regular walking regimen experienced less fatigue than cancer survivors who did not do the walking program. Journal of the American College of Surgeons, April 2012 

Chiropractic: Keep Your Blood Flowing. Patients with atherosclerosis are associated with increased disk degeneration and subjective low back pain. Atherosclerosis slows blood flow to the disk complex, which, in turn, leads to degeneration. Spine, 1997 

Wellness/Prevention: Cancer Is A Preventable Disease! Only 5-10% of cancer cases are due to genetic defects. The other 90-95% of cancer cases are due to environmental and lifestyle factors including smoking, alcohol consumption, poor diet, obesity, infectious agents, environmental pollution and radiation. Pharmaceutical Research, September 2008  

Quote: “When somebody challenges you, fight back. Be brutal, be tough.” ~ Donald Trump

Mental Attitude: Berry Good News. Men who regularly consume foods rich in flavonoids (such as berries, apples, certain vegetables, tea and red wine) may significantly reduce their risk for developing Parkinson’s disease. Flavonoids are naturally occurring, bioactive compounds present in many plant-based foods and drinks. Neurology, April 2012

Health Alert: Stressed? The risk for coronary heart disease and stroke increases by 30% in a person whose partner has cancer. The cause is probably the negative stress to which the cancer patient’s partner is exposed. Previous studies show that stress can affect the nervous system, blood pressure, and inflammation, increasing the risk of developing coronary heart disease and stroke. Centre for Primary Healthcare Research in Malmö, April 2012

Diet: Pain Relief. The supplement Methylsulfonylmethane gave osteoarthritis patients relief from symptoms of pain and physical dysfunction. Osteoarthritis Cartilage, 2008

Exercise: Being Fit. Improving or maintaining physical fitness appears to help obese and overweight children reach a healthy weight. During a four-year study, obese and overweight girls and boys who achieved fitness were 2.5 to 5 times more likely to reach a healthy weight than those who stayed underfit. Obesity, April 2012

Chiropractic: Slowing Degeneration? Morphologic changes in the endplate that occur with advancing age or degeneration can interfere with normal disk nutrition and further the spinal degenerative process. Degeneration decreases the ability of the spine to move through a full range of motion, which alters the integrity of the proteoglycans and water concentration, reducing the number of viable cells with decreased movement of solutes in and out of the disk. Pain, 2004

Wellness/Prevention: Unhealthy Snacks, Sodas and Watching TV. In a study of obesity among European children, Dr. Yannis Manios, Assistant Professor at Harokopio University in Athens, writes, “We found that many countries are lacking clear guidelines on healthy eating and active play. However, there is good evidence linking sedentary behavior (like TV watching) with subsequent obesity. Therefore, TV-watching in kindergartens should be replaced by more active, non-competitive, fun activities which will promote the participation of the whole class and help children to achieve optimal growth, health and well-being. Similarly at home, TVs in the bedroom and unhealthy snacks in the kitchen cupboard are a bad idea. Parents should also remember that their role is not only to provide healthy food and drink options but to act as a role model themselves, since kids are copying their behaviors.” Obesity Reviews, March 2012

Quote: “Simple diet is best; for many dishes bring many diseases; and rich sauces are worse than heaping several meats upon each other.” ~ Pliny

Mental Attitude: Meditation. Adults with memory impairment and memory loss may benefit from mantra-based   meditation (12 minutes of meditation per day for 8 weeks). Mantra-based meditation has demonstrated a positive effect on patients’ emotional responses to stress, fatigue and anxiety. Findings revealed a substantial increase in cerebral blood flow in the patients’ prefrontal, superior frontal, and superior parietal cortices, and also better cognitive function. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, March 2012

Health Alert: Diabetics And Stroke. 26 million Americans have diabetes, and more than half are younger than 65. The longer you have diabetes, the higher your risk for stroke. Compared to people without diabetes (after considering other factors such as age, smoking history, physical activity, history of heart disease, blood pressure and cholesterol), the risk of stroke increased 70% in people with diabetes for less than 5 years, 80% in people with diabetes for 5-10 years and three­fold in people with diabetes for 10 years or more. American Heart Association, March 2012

Diet: Seeing Things? Hungry people see food-related words more clearly than people who’ve just eaten. This change in vision happens at the earliest perceptual stages, before higher parts of the brain have a chance to change the messages coming from the eyes. Psychological Science, March 2012

Exercise: Good Reasons. Exercise helps to alleviate low-back pain, helps to reduce the amount of insulin required to control blood sugar levels in Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetics and improves mental alertness. Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health, 1996

Chiropractic: Hold Your Head Up! “Head in forward posture can add up to thirty pounds of abnormal leverage on the cervical spine. This can pull the entire spine out of alignment. Forward head posture (FHP) may result in the loss of 30% of vital lung capacity. These breath-related effects are primarily due to the loss of the cervical lordosis, which blocks the action of the hyoid muscles, especially the inferior hyoid responsible for helping lift the first rib during inhalation.”~Rene Cailliet M.D., famous medical author and former Director of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Southern California

Wellness/Prevention: Avoid Absenteeism. The US is losing $226 billion per year due to employee absenteeism. A worker is less likely to take sick leave if their supervisor offers support (lightened work load or stress management training) when an employee is experiencing psychosomatic stress symptoms. The worker feels inclined to reciprocate the supportive treatment by keeping their work effort high. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, January 2012

Quote: “Anything is possible. You can be told that you have a 90% chance or a 50% chance or a 1% chance, but you have to believe, and you have to fight.” ~ Lance Armstrong

Mental Attitude: Get Your Sleep! Older adults with poor sleep habits have an altered immune system response to stress that may increase their risk for mental and physical health problems. Stress leads to significantly larger increases in a marker of inflammation in poor sleepers compared to good sleepers; a marker associated with poor health outcomes and death. Poor sleepers report more depressive symptoms, more loneliness and more global perceived stress relative to good sleepers. As people age, a gradual decline in the immune system occurs, along with an increase in inflammation. Heightened inflammation increases the risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other illnesses, as well as psychiatric problems. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, March 2012

Health Alert: Slow Down — You Move Too Fast? People who are considered ambitious, attend the best colleges and universities, have prestigious careers and earn high salaries don’t necessarily lead more successful lives. Ambition has its positive effects (in terms of career success, it certainly does) but ambitious people are only slightly happier than their less- ambitious counterparts and they actually live somewhat shorter lives.

Journal of Applied Psychology, March 2012

Diet: Fish Oil. Six weeks of supplementation with fish oil significantly increased lean mass and decreased fat mass in test subjects. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, October 2010

Exercise: Good Reasons. Exercise helps you maintain proper muscle balance, reduces the rate and severity of medical complications associated with hypertension, helps alleviate menstrual symptoms and lowers your heart rate response to submaximal physical exertion. Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health, 1996

Chiropractic: Adjustment or Microdiskectomy for Sciatica? 60% of patients with sciatica (symptoms of unilateral lumbar radiculopathy secondary to lumbar disk herniation at L3-4, L4-5, or L5-S1) who had failed other medical management (patients must have failed at least 3 months of nonoperative management including treatment with analgesics, lifestyle modification, physiotherapy, massage therapy, and/or acupuncture) benefited from spinal manipulation to the same degree as if they underwent surgical intervention. JMPT, October 2010

Wellness/Prevention: Dark Chocolate Good For The Heart. A flavonoid called epicatechin, found in dark chocolate, enhances mitochondria structure in people with advanced heart failure and type 2 diabetes. Mitochondria are cellular structures that provide the energy a cell requires in order to move, divide, and contract. Both heart failure and type 2 diabetes impair these cells, resulting in abnormalities in skeletal muscle. In individuals with diabetes and heart failure, these abnormalities in the heart and skeletal muscle cause decreased functional capacity, resulting in difficulty walking even short distances, shortness of breath, and a lack of energy.

Clinical and Translational Science, March 2012

Quote: “Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.” ~ Albert Einstein

It has been a few days since your car accident, and you have a scheduled appointment with a chiropractor. You’ve done the research, and you know how a chiropractor can hopefully help you relieve the headaches, the dizziness, and the neck pain associated with your whiplash, or neck injury. However, you should realize that this is a team effort, and the success of the chiropractic activities is just as dependent on what you do. Here are a few things to remember prior to your first visit to the chiropractor’s office

Tip # 1: Be Prepared to Supply Personal Information

In order for the chiropractor to treat you effectively, he or she must have all the pertinent information. This includes your medical history, information about the accident that caused the injury, and any specific illnesses or injuries that you might have suffered in the past. While it may seem a little invasive, the questions that the chiropractor will ask you serve only to help formulate an accurate diagnosis of the problem. Once that is accomplished, the proper treatment can be devised.

Tip # 2: Be Prepared for a Physical Examination

In most cases, chiropractors will do a thorough and complete physical examination. This helps them to identify any problem areas, or how your posture, alignment, and muscles are affecting the symptoms associated with your whiplash. Treat the visit as if you were going to your regular doctor; a chiropractor has the same level of training, if not more than most medical professionals, and they have the expertise to do the examination effectively.

Tip # 3: Practice Relaxing

It might sound strange, but try to relax prior to the first visit to the chiropractor’s office for treatment of whiplash symptoms. The car accident itself probably made you tense enough, and the idea of a stranger adjusting your spine can be quite disconcerting. However, this nervous tension will lead to muscle tension and strain on the joints, making the whole process that much harder. Therefore, before you walk into the examination room, take a few deep breaths and try to relax your muscles. Doing so will help the chiropractor make an accurate diagnosis and plan your treatment effectively.

Tip # 4: Be Prepared for After the Appointment

Truth be told, there is a distinct possibility that you will have some minor discomfort after the visit to your chiropractor. Sometimes the muscle manipulation used can lead to minor muscle aches for a period of time. Conversely the relief of pain often experienced by the patients after an adjustment will often leave them so relaxed that a small nap might feel desirable. So, it’s best to have a small ice pack and an hour or two available to relax in after the appointment.

These are just a few tips that you can use to prepare for your visit to the chiropractic office after an automobile accident. Just remember that in order to successfully treat your whiplash symptoms, you and your chiropractor should work together to find the most effective treatment options available.

Mental Attitude: Music and Emotions. Music can evoke positive emotions, which in turn can lower stress levels. In a survey study, positive emotions were experienced more often and more intensively in connection with music listening. The more the participants liked the music, the less stress they experienced. To get the positive effects of music, you have to listen to music you like. University of Gothenburg, March 2012

Health Alert: Slow Brain Growth In Babies Linked To Depression During Pregnancy! Many women experience a roller coaster of emotions during pregnancy: stress, confusion, fear, sadness and depression. Babies whose mothers are depressed during pregnancy have a greater chance of growing slower, resulting in the head and body showing retarded growth. Also, antidepressants increase the risk of slow growth in the development of babies’ brains. Archives of General Psychiatry, March 2012

Diet: High-Fat Diets Increase Colon Cancer Risk. Eating too much fat and sugar puts a person at greater risk for colon cancer and obesity. In normal tissue from patients with colon cancer, they found that epigenetic marks on genes involved in breaking down carbohydrates, lipids and amino acids (abundant in the fatty Western diet) appeared to have been retrained. Epigenetic marks are chemical modifications that serve as on/off switches for many genes. These foods are changing the methylation patterns on a person’s insulin genes so that they express differently, pumping out more insulin than the body requires. Cancer Prevention Research, March 2012

Exercise: Exercise Linked To Change In DNA. Exercise almost immediately alters DNA in healthy but inactive men and women. Although the genetic makeup is not altered, DNA molecules change structurally and chemically when a person exercises. One researcher noted, “Our muscles are really plastic. We often say ‘You are what you eat.’ Well, muscle adapts to what you do. If you don’t use it, you lost it and this is one of the mechanisms that allow that to happen.” Cell Metabolism, March 2012

Chiropractic: Is Chiropractic Safe? YES. Chiropractic’s non-surgical, drug-free approach to health places it among the safest of all health care practices. Remember, chiropractic takes nothing out of the body and puts nothing in. As a result, chiropractors enjoy one of the lowest malpractice rates of all health care professionals. Massachusetts Chiropractic Association

Wellness/Prevention: How Much Selenium? While too much selenium may result in the development of type 2 diabetes, high selenium intake has been shown to protect against certain cancers, such as lung, colorectal, bladder, and prostate cancer. It also increases male fertility and has positive effects on antiviral function. Low selenium intake has been linked to memory and brain decline, low immune system quality, and a greater risk of death. The Lancet, March 2012

Quote: “The main goal of the future is to stop violence. The world is addicted to it.” ~ Bill Cosby

Whiplash commonly occurs as a result of a motor vehicle collision when, typically, there is hyper-motion in one direction followed by motion in the opposite direction in a “crack the whip” like manner. 

The direction of the strike typically dictates the direction of movement of the head so in a rear end collision, the strike is from behind, whipping the head forwards and then backwards. In a side-on collision, a side-to-side motion results. Pain can occur anywhere around the neck, upper back, arms, chest and/or head, depending on the tissues that are injured. Soft tissues including the muscles, their tendon insertions, ligaments that securely tie bone to bone, the shock absorbing disk in the front of the vertebral column, and/or the nerves that pass through the holes of the spine that innervate the arms and hands can be affected by these injuries. 

There can be jaw pain, difficulty in swallowing, balance / dizziness problems, fatigue, as well as concussion or mild traumatic brain injury which can lead to poor concentration, sleep interference, and memory loss. Low back pain and/or trunk pain can occur from the seatbelt and/or airbag deployment. 

The injuries associated with whiplash can lead to disruption of normal daily activity, depression and anxiety. There can be immediate symptoms or a delay in the onset and pain with its associated disability can last for days, weeks, months, or longer, depending on each case.           

Last month, we discussed the grades 1, 2, and 3 or, mild, moderate, severe sprains (ligament injuries) and strains (muscle injuries). Previously, we discussed methods of prognosing the lasting effects of the injury in a reported classification system called “whiplash associated disorders” or WAD I, II, III, & IV. Here, the differentiating feature is pain with no objective exam findings (WAD I), the presence of objective loss of motion but negative neurological findings (WADII) or, the presence of measurable neurological dysfunction (WAD III). Studies have shown that the likelihood of prolonged injury increases with each WAD grade. 

A side-to-side or front-to-back mechanism of injury can result in damage to the ligaments in the back of the spine called the supra- and inter- spinous ligaments, the disk and/or nerve root that exits the spine allowing the arm and hand to sense and be strong (when it’s not pinched or damaged like in a WAD III) and/or, the bone which can compress when the force is hard enough (WAD IV).  A concussion can occur when the brain bounces against the inside of the skull.

Mental Attitude: The Brain, Aggression & The Media. Research over the past few decades has shown that viewing physical violence in the media can increase aggression in adults and children. A new study has also found that onscreen relational aggression (including social exclusion, gossip and emotional bullying) may prime the brain for aggression. Aggressive Behavior, March 2012

Health Alert: Don’t Be Like A Brit? Britons are dying early because of ignorance and denial of cancer symptoms. If Britain matched the best cancer survival rates in Europe, 11,500 fewer people would die every year. Matching just the European average would save 6,000-7,000 lives every year. Britain’s poor record in early diagnosis is to blame. A survey asked Britons about warning signs and symptoms of cancer. 75% failed to mention pain, coughing, bladder and bowel problems; 66% failed to list bleeding; and only 25% mentioned weight loss or mole changes. 37% who spotted early signs of cancer said they may delay getting checked because they worried about the result. 37% said they may delay getting symptoms checked because it would be difficult to make an appointment to see their GP. 25% said it might be a waste of their doctor’s time. Cancer Research, 2012

Diet: Added Sugar, Obesity And Diabetes. Fructose intake from added sugar is linked with the epidemic rise in obesity, metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors that raises a person’s risk for diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and other health problems. Metabolic syndrome currently affects 25% of Americans. If you compared two diets of similar calorie intake (more fructose vs. more starch), the higher fructose diet will lead to greater accumulation of fat around organs and higher insulin resistance.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, March 2012

Exercise: Take A Break From Sitting. Interrupting prolonged periods of sitting with regular, two-minute breaks of light or moderate intensity activity, like walking, may be good for overweight and obese people’s health. Such activity helps their bodies keep glucose and insulin levels under control after consuming a high calorie meal.

Diabetes Care, March 2012

Chiropractic: Tennis Anyone? “A Chiropractor was instrumental in putting my body back together… alternative therapies will play a bigger role in our lives. After all, people like what works”

~ Martina Navratilova – former WTA World No. 1 and 9x Wimbledon Singles Champion

Wellness/Prevention: Vitamin D And Fractures. Vitamin D intake can lower stress fracture risk in girls, especially in regards to injuries caused by high impact activities. There was no evidence that calcium and dairy intakes were protective against developing a stress fracture or that soda intake was predictive of an increased risk of stress fracture or confounded the association between dairy, calcium or vitamin D intakes and fracture risk.

Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, March 2012

Quote: “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” ~ Dalai Lama

            Low back pain (LBP) can be localized and contained to only the low back area or, it can radiate pain down the leg. This distinction is important as the former, LBP only, is often less complicated and carries a more favorable prognosis for complete recovery. In fact, a large part of our history and examination is focused at this differentiation. This month’s Health Update is going to look at the different types of leg pain that can occur with different LBP conditions. 

            We’ve all heard of the word “sciatica” and it (usually) is loosely used to describe everything from LBP arising from the joints in the back, the sacroiliac joint, from the muscles of the low back as well as a pinched nerve from a ruptured disk. Strictly speaking, the term “sciatica” should ONLY be used when the sciatic nerve is pinched.  The sciatic nerve is made up of five smaller nerves (L4, 5, S1, 2, 3) that arise from the spine and join together to form one large nerve (about the size of our pinky) called the sciatic nerve – like five small rivers merging into one BIG river. Sciatica occurs when any one of the small nerves (L4-S3) or, when the sciatic nerve itself, gets compressed or irritated. This can be, and often is caused from a lumbar disk herniation (the “ruptured disk”), a mis-positioned vertebra (such as a forward slip of the vertebra called “spondylolisthesis”), pressure from an arthritic spur off the spine where the nerve exits (“spinal stenosis”), or, from a tumor near or around the nerve. A term called “pseudosciatica” (a non-disk cause) includes a pinch from the piriformis muscle where the nerve passes through the pelvis (in the “cheek” or, the buttocks), which has been commonly referred to as “wallet sciatica” as sitting on the wallet in the back pocket is often the cause. When this occurs, the term “peripheral neuropathy” is the most accurate term to use. Other “pseudosciatic” causes include referred pain from the facet joints which is described by the patient as a “deep ache” inside the leg, or from a metabolic condition where the nerve is affected such as diabetes and other conditions. Here again, the term, “neuropathy” is the better label when diabetes, hypothyroid, lead poisoning, alcohol toxicity and/or others is the culprit. Direct trauma like a bruise to the buttocks from falling or hitting the nerve during an injection into the buttocks can also trigger “sciatica.” 

            The symptoms of sciatica include low back pain, buttocks pain, back of the thigh, calf and/or foot pain and/or numbness-tingling. If the nerve is compressed hard enough, muscle weakness can occur making it hard to stand up on the tip toes creating a limp when walking. In the clinic, we will raise the straight leg and if pinched, sharp pain can occur with as little as 20-30° due to the nerve being stretched as the leg is raised. If pain occurs anywhere between 30 and 70° of elevation of either the same side leg and/or the opposite leg, this constitutes a positive test for sciatica (better termed, “nerve root tension”). When a disk is herniated into the nerve, bending the spine backwards can move the disk away and off the nerve resulting in relief, which is very diagnostic of a herniated disk. Having a patient walk on their toes and then heels and watching for foot drop as well as testing the reflexes, the sensation with a sharp object, and testing the reflexes at the knee and Achilles tendon can give us clues if there is nerve damage. The GOOD NEWS is that chiropractic methods can resolve this problem FREQUENTLY, thus avoiding unnecessary surgery! So, check with us FIRST, before electing for surgery!!!

Mental Attitude: Memory and Stress. Anyone who has ever experienced chronic stress knows it can take a toll on both your emotions and your ability to think clearly. Researchers have discovered a neural mechanism that directly links repeated stress with impaired memory. This study also provides critical insight into why stress responses can act as a trigger for mental illnesses. Neuron, March 2012

Health Alert: Sleeping Pill Dangers! Sleeping pill sales increased by 23% from 2006-20 10 and generated about $2 billion in annual sales. Sleeping pills (including Ambien and Restoril) are linked to a 4.6 times higher risk of death and a significant increase in cancer. Among patients who were prescribed just 1-18 sleeping pills per year, the risk of death was 3.6 times higher. Rates of new cancers were 35% higher among patients who were prescribed at least 132 doses a year, compared with those who did not receive prescriptions. BMJ Open, March 2012

Diet: Rosemary Essential Oil On My Mind? Blood levels of a rosemary oil component correlate with improved cognitive performance. Results indicate, for the first time in human subjects, that concentration of 1, 8-cineole in the blood is related to an individual’s cognitive performance, with higher concentrations resulting in improved performance. Both speed and accuracy were improved, suggesting that the relationship is not describing a speed-accuracy trade off. Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology, March 2012

Exercise: Yoga And Stress. Yoga may be effective for stress-related psychological and medical conditions such as depression, anxiety, high blood pressure and cardiac disease. The theory could be used to develop specific mind-body practices for the prevention and treatment of these conditions in conjunction with standard treatments.

Medical Hypotheses, March 2012

Chiropractic: Safety of Adjusting. No one pays closer attention to injury statistics than Malpractice Insurance carriers. Scott Haldeman, M.D., D.C. reviewed malpractice claims records for a 10-year period between 1988 and 1997. In reviewing 134.5 million chiropractic adjustments, there were 23 cases of stroke or vertebral artery dissection. 10 of these had complicating factors such as high blood pressure, use of oral contraceptives, or a history of smoking, all associated with vascular disease. The incidence of stroke or vertebral artery dissection following neck adjustments was one per 5.85 million. On average, a chiropractor would have to work for 1430 years (48 full chiropractic careers) for this to happen once! Driving to the office is probably more dangerous. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2001

Wellness/Prevention: Irregular Heartbeat? An irregular heartbeat, atrial fibrillation, is a strong predictor of cognitive decline and the loss of independence in daily activities in older people at risk of cardiovascular disease. This is just another good reason to maintain your heart health and get checked to prevent heart problems.

Canadian Medical Association Journal, March 2012

Quote: “The more serious the illness, the more important it is for you to fight back, mobilizing all your resources – spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and physical.” ~ Norman Cousins